Friday Finds + The Books I’ve Finished

We are another week closer to spring…actually summer is my favorite but my hair looks better in spring #humidityistheenemy. I have a few finds from these past few weeks, but the big focus of today’s post are the books I recently finished. Four were a complete hit with me, but sadly there was one major letdown. And after I finished that book I didn’t want to start another because it killed my book mojo. But I pressed on and discovered a few more amazing reads. First let’s start with my favorite finds:

1. Last year this bag was the big hit (and it’s looking like it will still be a winner this year), but I was looking for a round crossbody bag in a straw or rattan material. I love straw totes, but some outfits look better with a casual crossbody. I found this one on the Nordstrom site and bought it immediately.

4. Just in case you need reminding, Guerlain is still the ultimate brand for bronzers. Look at these new ones that recently launched.

5. Charlotte Tilbury is always pulling me in with her complexion launches – this one looks so interesting (and the name sounds even better)!

Now onto my book reviews:

1. The Woman In the Window – Yup, I agree with all the hype surrounding this book. It is FANTASTIC! Anna Fox suffers from severe agoraphobia and has not left her home in almost 10 months. Because of this she has taken to watching her neighbors’ every moves as a source of enjoyment each day. It isn’t until she sees one of them in trouble in their home, that she needs to face her crippling phobia and find a way to help. Sadly because of her shut-in lifestyle, no one believes her and she must figure out if in fact she hallucinated the event or figure out a way to prove it happened. So so so good and you will not see the ending coming.

2. Mean Streak – This took a bit for me to get into and I thought it was quite predictable. Until it wasn’t…. Dr. Emory Charbonneau is an avid runner but is attacked while running one morning. She wakes up in a cabin with a strange man who claims that he rescued her. However, he won’t let her call for help or take her to a hospital for medical care, but says he will not hurt her and she can trust him. There were parts of this book that were predictable, but I ended up really liking many of the characters.

3. Safe With Me – I do tend to gravitate towards mysteries and thrillers because they can be quick and easy reads. This one was definitely a mystery but a bit more slow moving. Anna suffered a very traumatic childhood and as a result lives a very lonely and solitary existence. She is forced to uncover some of those painful memories after witnessing a car accident where the driver was someone that she feels ruined her life years ago. Anna is a very strange character and I went between feeling sorry for her and not liking her at all. But as the story progressed, I came to understand her more and the ending left me not as frustrated. (Side note: I don’t always dislike books that frustrate me, in fact sometimes I enjoy it. I like to FEEL things while reading whether that be anger, sadness, frustration, joy, etc).

4. All By Myself, Alone – This is a Mary Higgins Clark novel and if you are familiar with her work, then you understand this type of novel. Quick mention – I was googling info about her because I was curious just how many books she had written and saw that she is worth over $100 million dollars. I never found the exact number of books but after seeing that $100M number, I knew it was a lot! LOL This is an easy mystery read, nothing gripping nor thought provoking. It also reads like the boardgame CLUE, do you remember that? The characters int his book are professors, boat captains, lawyers, wealthy socialites – I kept saying to myself that there only needed a candlestick as the murder weapon and a study as the scene of the crime to make it complete.

Before I finish, I had one major miss and feel they are always worth mentioning just as an FYI. I had high hopes for this book as I heard a few people say great things about it, but it was so dull and moved at a snail’s pace. I didn’t even finish the last few chapters because I could not take anymore.